Antibiotic Resistant No More

Genesis 22:8
“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

One of medicine’s greatest challenges are those populations of bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.

The ocean is literally a soup of bio-germs, including bacteria, many of which can infect, sicken and kill a wide variety of creatures. These germs often form biofilms which protect them from antibiotics. Marine researchers were investigating the ocean bottom where something had killed all the marine creatures. In the midst of all this death they found a thriving marine sponge. Why wasn’t it dead like everything else?

Studying the sponge’s defenses, researchers discovered a chemical called ageliferin. Further study showed that this compound prevented biofilms from forming. What’s more, the chemical makes resistant germs once again susceptible to antibiotics. It has already been proven to re-sensitize bacteria that cause ear infections, food poisoning, whooping cough and a particularly nasty resistant bacteria that causes infections in hospitals.

While God gave us a perfect world, He knew that mankind would sin and bring disease and death into the world. So God provided antibiotics. But He also knew that some germs would become resistant to antibiotics. So He provided His creation with substances to solve that problem, too. Nevertheless, mankind’s primary problem is sin, and He provided us with the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world – one repentant sinner at a time.

Prayer:
I thank You, Lord, for good medicine, but most of all I thank You for sending Your Son to be my Savior. Amen.

Notes:
Science News, 3/14/09, p. 16, Laura Sanders, “Sponge’s secret weapon revealed.” Illustration: Chemical structure of ageliferin. Courtesy of Edgar181. (PD)